I don’t know about you, but when it’s hot outside, I start craving ice cream. Every afternoon around 3:00, I feel the need for a big scoop of mint chocolate chip. But, knowing that I can’t indulge in ice cream every day without adding a few summertime pounds, I began searching for alternatives to satisfy my summertime sweet tooth.
As I began this intensive research project, I asked a few people how they dealt with their cravings. The serious athletes (you know them…the Ironman types) chose fruit. HOW BORING IS THAT? An orange is not going to satisfy my sweet tooth and I’m not even going to give it a try. The slender people said they chew gum. Hmmm. Rocky Road or Trident? You can’t put ice cream and chewing gum in the same category!
After a few weeks of trying out various sweet treats, I created a list of my favorite summertime goodies. They had to satisfy my sweet tooth, but not contain have too much fat or too many calories.
- Fage 2 % Greek Yogurt with strawberry preserves.
This delicious, creamy treat is high in protein and low in fat. It’s one of my favorites. - Peanuts with semi-sweet chocolate chips. A handful of peanuts sprinkled with chocolate chips satisfies your cravings for something salty AND sweet. Stick to one handful and enjoy this protein packed snack with an ice cold seltzer.
- Kashi Go Lean Fiber and Protein Bar. These nice little “hold-me-over” snack bars are pretty good. And they keep me going strong until dinner.
- Chocolate Milk. I know it doesn’t sound like it would be satisfying, but it is. I hadn’t had a glass of chocolate milk in over 15 years until
the other day. It was delicious! And because it’s so hot outside, it helped quench my thirst too. I like Farmland Dairies Lactose Free Skim Plus Milk and good old Hershey’s Syrup. - Gelato. I know. It’s almost ice cream but it’s not. It’s so much better! It has less fat, less sugar and they serve smaller scoops. Treat yourself to this amazing Italian delicacy every now and then—it’s simply to die for.
Like any other food, eating a little sweet treat is fine in moderation. When choosing any of the above, remember to simply go with a smaller portion…and ENJOY!!!
Please share your favorite summertime with us. I’m always looking for new options!
Stay sweet,
Molly
You have given a great idea for a new product. How about Rocky Road Trident Gum? It will be killer!
Well…it doesn’t sound very good to me to be honest. I like the creamy texture of ice cream…but you NEVER KNOW! 🙂
a squirt of honey is good on vanilla greek yogurt!!
And Skinny Cow has dulche de leche low fat ice cream in the cutest little single serving cups!
Thanks Stacy. Do those little cups look the same as Frosty Paws (for the dogs)? That would be a problem here 🙂 Love you!
There is an ice-cream by the name of Skinny cow. They make ice cream sandwiches AND cones. The carmel cones with vanilla ice cream are the best! 150 calories………….
Hey Molly!!!
I love your blog–You have had several posts where I thought you were talking right to me–LOL—This one so totally hit me like that!! While I am not an ice cream person–it is my almost 12 year old daughter’s(Raeven) favorite dessert… She was just diagnosed with insulin resistance and we are now doing low carb/high protein eating (the word diet does not exist anymore in our world—just healthy eating). Honestly, one of the few “processed” foods that I still buy is the Carb Smart ice cream by Breyers–It comes in Vanilla and we add a lower carb fruit like berries—sometimes a no calorie root beer—Breyers also makes a Carb Smart vanilla ice cream bar covered in chocolate and almonds—She likes both products–a great endorsement from a kid—-ha ha–
Keep up the great writing!!! I would love to hear about any professional experiences you may have had working with pre-teens or teens—Hope all is well with you and your family!!
Cheryl (Hoppe–from BW)
Thanks for the great comment Cheryl. That is a tough age to have to make radical change to your diet, but hopefully she will adopt to healthy eating and stick with it for the rest of her life. Thanks for reading (and liking my blog…I really appreciate it!) Stay well…
How about that root beer float?!… yum, a summer favorite treat.
Now that sounds really good! Haven’t had one in about 20 years! Just make it a mini and enjoy 🙂
SUMMER-time screams PEACHES! Sweet & juicy & satisfying! But marinate them in your favorite red wine; it takes it to whole ‘nother level! 🙂 Just slice ripe peaches and place them a pitcher of your favorite red! CHILL over-night and serve to your favorite friend! Betcha you’ll have friends for LIFE! It’s an Italian-thing! 🙂 ~xo!
You are SO RIGHT Des! How did I forget peaches??? I had one last week and thought I’d died and gone to heaven. And I’ll have to put them in some wine…my Italian husband will love that 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to comment!